Tauranga to Ray’s Rest to Auckland

We left Tauranga in the pouring rain which fortunately did not last for too long and it had stopped by the time we got to Waihi. After a brief stop for LPG in Paeroa we continued on our way to our destination Ray’s Rest (nest Kaiaua).

We are seriously thinking of renaming New Zealand to Aotearoa, Land of the long line of orange cones!!

The never ending line of cones

More cones

It wasn’t too far for the days drive, a couple of hours in total if I remember correctly. It would have been a lot quicker due to the endless line of cones and slow moving traffic through the work zones, but hey, we weren’t in a hurry.

Parked up by the sea at Ray’s Rest

This would have to be the quietest we have seen it at Rays Rest, with just one other van in when we arrived and only a further two joining us later in the day. The weather wasn’t the greatest, dull, overcast, with heavy rain at times and strong winds but we hunkered down for a couple of nights to wait for the Auckland border to open.

After two restful and peaceful nights we were soon on our way again, heading to Ardmore NZMCA park for a night so we could catch up with Antony for a day and to make a start on sorting out the last of our stuff we had from our storage container we emptied earlier in the year. What a mission, we managed to go through all the art works, but what we will do with it all is a problem for another day.

Time to hit the motorway and head to Shakespear Park ready for our summer sojourn.

After a very warm welcome from Rangers, the formalities completed by signing all the forms now necessary due to Covid, we settled in our temporary parking spot until the weekend when our usual spot would become free.

Things are a little different this year, we now have a double row of fencing up in front of our bay with a metre between each row of tape to ensure campers keep the requisite 1m away. We won’t go into the Councils decision to require all staff & volunteers to be double vaxxed, and with passports required for entry into all council facilities ….except for campgrounds!!…..needless to say, we are not impressed. Our interaction with campers is greatly reduced, masks are to be worn (by us) during any interactions, which does not make it feel terribly friendly. However, we shall see how it all goes.

Parked in our usual spot, behind the double row of orange tape

My garden is back in its place beautifully planted up (thanx Emma) ready for summer, we have a new tent up (thanx John) for our guests to stay in when they visit, and a new double shower tent (thanx Pat & Sue) to take advantage of solar heated water.

Shower tent to the right and garden to the left. This was before we conjured up the energy to put up the tent.

Settled into our usual spot and Decked out with Christmas lights

Merry seasonal salutations to you all.

Tauranga…the final part!

With borders around Auckland coming down we can finally get back into Auckland and our usual summer location at Shakespear Park. However, this year, our role will be slightly different due to Covid restrictions with less interaction with campers.

But before we left Tauranga we had a few final things to do, sort or achieve, nothing major but just those silly little things that you keep putting off until you can’t put it off any longer.

Whilst we were at Keith’s one day, we noticed he had a rose bush that was starting to spill over the deck and patio area and causing a bit of a hazard especially when his grandchildren are around. We set to with wires and eyelets and espaliered the rose in a fan shape along the fence and now it’s looking so much better.

The rose before on the left and on the right after it was espaliered along the fence line.

I’ve been keeping my hand busy too, making sure Ian doesn’t miss out on a Xmas stocking, I set to to embroider one for him as well.

On the left is the main embroidery done, then highlighted and outlined on the right

The finished article…and why owls you ask? Maybe because Ian is a bit of a hoot!!

I also decided to design and make a couple of smaller stockings,

The main embroidery done on one of the smaller stockings

And the pattern for the other one. First of all I had to find some graph paper, Mr Google helped and I downloaded and printed off some sheets, before setting to to draw up the pattern.

I just have the finishing touches to do then make up the stockings and they are already for us to deliver to the UK next year!

Our last weekend at Pyes Pa and a farewell potluck dinner was held for us and Mike & Jean. We had a great meal with our new friends at Pyes Pa, it was a lovely way to end our stay.

Farewell dinner at Pyes Pa.

The following day we had a farewell lunch at Keith’s with his daughters and grandies as well as mutual friends Carol & Glen. I forgot to take any pictures of the fun afternoon but between a yummy BBQ lunch and laughing ourselves silly with the antics of the little ones and the not so little particularly with a water fight, I did capture the final moment of another funny event.

Amy holding onto Keith’s legs as he lifts Isla out, who managed to get the “alligator” aka elevator, stuck on the ground floor. Answering the plaintiff cries of “I’m stuck, help me!”, Isla was quickly lifted out. I think the poor alligator was very tired after being sent up and down numerous times by small persons!!!

With the weather forecast not looking particularly bright, we bade fond farewells to all the lovely people at the park over property we have come to get to know over the past numerous weeks! We thank Rona the owner, Rosie & Baz the caretakers and all the lovely campers we got to know so well – Thank you for your wonderful hospitality, entertainment, and friendship, we shall return.

Tauranga part 4

It hasn’t all been socialising, although it seems pretty much that’s all we’ve done these past few weeks. However, interspersed with gadding about we have completed a couple of tasks that seem to be on the never ending job list.

After a fellow American RV owner have us a heads up on a good polish for the van, I started polishing. However, I can only do as far as I can reach as I don’t do ladders! and it has come up really well. But then to top it off I borrowed a hand polisher from Keith to just make that little difference but it’s not a job to be done in a day, and the weather hasn’t really helped but I am getting there. I just have to “encourage” aka nag, the other half of the touring party to climb the ladder to do the upper part of the van.

The next wee task was to get a replacement catch for the fly screen door as it seemed to have a mind of its own and worked sometimes, other times the door would fly open in the slightest breeze letting in those pesky flying insects. We found a replacement at an RV store and the catch was quickly put on.

Now for some time I have wanted to freshen up the inside of the van, one way I have seem done it to use vinyl stick on tiles as the splashback in the kitchen area. I found some tiles locally so bought a couple of packets and decided to trial then in the bathroom as the splashback behind the sink is a small area and if I muck it up it wouldn’t be too difficult to remedy.

I spent most of a day wrestling with tiles, scissors, awkward angles, hot humid temperature (I should have known better) but in the end I got there. Oh it wasn’t easy, I thought I’d finished, stood back to admire my handiwork but I wasn’t happy with the last set I put up so peeled them off, ruined them in the process, cut another lot to go in, cut them upside down, cut another one, this time too short! Grrrrr. Take a deep breath, have another coffee…oh wait, maybe that is the problem, too much caffeine! I finally got it right and am quite happy with the results so I’ve now ordered more to do the kitchen splashback.

Bathroom backsplash completed.

And then there was the Sunday morning “training day” I held for some of the other campers who were having difficulty getting their Covid vaccine passports. We met in the communal room where I took each person through getting their passport, we took along our printer so we could print off a copy as well if they required it. And to make the morning a bit less daunting, I baked lemon muffins to sweeten the deal!!!

And then there was the infamous potluck dinner held one evening with fellow campers.

Potluck dinner

Then there was the birthday dinner for caretaker Baz where we all chipped in an had a pizza night.

Shared birthday dinner with caretaker Baz

Friends came visiting too, we had a lovely lunch out with Wade & Lindsay where the time slipped away as we talked well into the afternoon. Of course we’ve spent a bit of time with nieces and great nieces, and it has been a wonderful time getting to know them all a whole lot better.

We talk with Callum a few times each week and he does keep us entertained. Alex, Ian and Callum moved into their new house last week, not too far from where they were before and still close to their London family. We were sent the following photo of Callum ‘helping’ with the packing!

In the suitcase ready to come and visit Grandma and Grandad!!

We hope that we will be able to travel next year as we are really looking forward to spending some time with Callum, in person, rather than being those funny people who live in the TV!!